To ask the Minister of Finance (i) to detail any engagement he has had with the UK Government in relation to the changes to procurement policy set out in Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 026; and (ii) whether any assessment has been made of its implications.

This PPN has no effect locally as public procurement is a transferred matter.

The Executives social value policy is contained within PPN 01/21 Social Value in Public Procurement, published in July 2021, which requires that services (over £500k) and works (over £5.2m) tenders must allocate a minimum of 10% of the total award criteria to social value.

PPN 01/21 offers a menu of social value outcomes within a themes-based framework that covers secure employment and skills, ethical and resilient supply chains, climate action and wellbeing.